Dear Insane Children,
Over the course of pre-production on Alice: Asylum we’ve frequently made reference to Shadow Alice, the arch-nemesis of Child Alice and the force of darkness threatening to destroy Wonderland. And we’ve also seen a variety of interpretations of this aspect of Alice’s character. A few of those are shared below…
This burnt-face interpretation came from Joey (image above).
As did this child-like version (image above).
Harvest Dress images from Omri – not exactly Shadow Alice but… (two images above).
These variations on the Harvest Dress (and visuals effects) could certainly scare you into thinking you’re looking at Shadow Alice (two images above).
The main image (top of page) was sent by Alex today. He’s asking the art team to help establish a clear and consistent look-feel for Shadow Alice throughout the game. So he’s showing a potential progression from start to finish (going from left to right across the image). The left-most version is what we’d see reflected in the Dark Lookingglass at the start of the game.
Crowd Design Time!
Which version is your favorite? Or do you have something else in mind.
Things to remember about Shadow Alice:
First off, she’s the Alice you know best. Because she’s the Alice who you traveled with through “American McGee’s Alice” and “Alice: Madness Returns” – she’s the fighter, survivor, adventurer who made her way past all those obstacles, enemies, and boss encounters.
Next, she’s the Shadow Self. But she’s also the dominant personality within Alice’s psyche.
Also, at this stage in the game, she’s in a form (age, size) closely resembling Adult Alice. Because she’s grown up alongside Alice and been through (guided?) everything Alice has been through.
Lastly, she’s a little bit Rock & Roll, knives out, stilettoed boots, black mascara, … and for fun, she pushes guys under moving trains.
Personally, of the images presented here, I like the floaty-hair, white-eyed, devil lady from Omri’s Harvest Dress sketches. But maybe we use those as a starting point for a new round of exploration?
Let us know in the comments what YOU think!
From Shanghai with Black Goo,
-American